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[[Image:Cupido4b.jpg|thumb|200px|Classical statue of Cupid with his bow]]
[[Image:Cupido4b.jpg|thumb|200px|Classical statue of Cupid with his bow]]


In [[Roman mythology]], '''dumb cupid''' (Latin ''Cupido'',
In [[Roman mythology]], '''Cupid''' (Latin ''Cupido'', meaning "desire") is the god of desire, affection and [[eroticism|erotic]] [[love]]. He is often portrayed as the son of the goddess [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]], with a father rarely mentioned in ancient Roman sources. His [[interpretatio graeca|Greek counterpart]] is [[Eros]]. Cupid is also known in Latin as '''Amor''' ("Love"). The '''Amores''' (plural) or ''amorini'' in the later terminology of [[art history]] are the equivalent of the Greek [[Erotes (mythology)|Erotes]].
Cupid had terible grades when he was in high school he was useless everyone sexually harrased him when he was young.

Although Eros appears in [[Classical Greece|Classical]] [[ancient Greek art|Greek art]] as a slender winged youth, during the [[Hellenistic period]] he was increasingly portrayed as a chubby boy. During this time, his iconography acquired the bow and arrow that remain a distinguishing attribute; a person, or even a deity, who is shot by Cupid's arrow is filled with uncontrollable desire. The Roman Cupid retains these characteristics, which continue in the depiction of multiple cupids in both [[ancient Roman art|Roman art]] and the later [[classical tradition]] of [[Western art]].<ref>This introduction is based on the entry on "Cupid" in ''The Classical Tradition,'' edited by Anthony Grafton, Glenn W. Most, and Salvatore Settis (Harvard University Press, 2010), pp. 144–145.</ref>

Cupid's ability to compel love and desire plays an instigating role in several myths or literary scenarios. In [[Vergil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', Cupid prompts [[Dido (Queen of Carthage)|Dido]] to fall in love with [[Aeneas]], with tragic results. [[Ovid]] makes Cupid the patron of love poets. Cupid is a central character, however, in only the traditional tale of [[Cupid and Psyche]], as told by [[Apuleius]].

Cupid was a continuously popular figure in the [[Middle Ages]], when under Christian influence he often had a dual nature as Heavenly and Earthly love, and in the [[Renaissance]], when a renewed interest in classical philosophy endowed him with complex allegorical meanings. In contemporary popular culture, Cupid is shown shooting his bow to inspire romantic love, often as an icon of [[Valentine's Day]].

==Birth==
==Birth==
In the Greek tradition, [[Eros]] was one of the [[Greek primordial gods|primordial gods]], though in some myths he was the offspring of other deities, including [[Aphrodite]] and [[Ares]]. In [[Latin literature]], Cupid is usually treated as the son of Venus without reference to a father. [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] says [[Volcanus|Vulcan]], as the husband of Venus, is the father of Cupid.<ref>Seneca, ''Octavia'' 560.</ref> In the later [[classical tradition]], however, Cupid is most often regarded as the son of Venus and [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]], whose love affair represented an [[allegory]] of Love and War.<ref> ''The Classical Tradition'' (Harvard University Press, 2010), p. 244.</ref>
In the Greek tradition, [[Eros]] was one of the [[Greek primordial gods|primordial gods]], though in some myths he was the offspring of other deities, including [[Aphrodite]] and [[Ares]]. In [[Latin literature]], Cupid is usually treated as the son of Venus without reference to a father. [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] says [[Volcanus|Vulcan]], as the husband of Venus, is the father of Cupid.<ref>Seneca, ''Octavia'' 560.</ref> In the later [[classical tradition]], however, Cupid is most often regarded as the son of Venus and [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]], whose love affair represented an [[allegory]] of Love and War.<ref> ''The Classical Tradition'' (Harvard University Press, 2010), p. 244.</ref>

Revision as of 19:36, 5 February 2013

For other uses, see Cupid (disambiguation) and Eros (disambiguation).
Classical statue of Cupid with his bow

In Roman mythology, dumb cupid (Latin Cupido, Cupid had terible grades when he was in high school he was useless everyone sexually harrased him when he was young.

Birth

In the Greek tradition, Eros was one of the primordial gods, though in some myths he was the offspring of other deities, including Aphrodite and Ares. In Latin literature, Cupid is usually treated as the son of Venus without reference to a father. Seneca says Vulcan, as the husband of Venus, is the father of Cupid.[1] In the later classical tradition, however, Cupid is most often regarded as the son of Venus and Mars, whose love affair represented an allegory of Love and War.[2]

Cupid and Psyche

Main article: Cupid and Psyche
Psyché et l'amour (1626–29) by Simon Vouet: Psyche lifts a lamp to view the sleeping Cupid

The story of Eros and Psyche appears in Greek art as early as the 4th century BC, but the most extended literary source of the tale is the Latin novel The Golden Ass, also known as Metamorphoses, by Apuleius (2nd century AD). Often presented as an allegory of love overcoming death, the myth was a frequent image on Roman sarcophagi.[3]

Cupid's mother Venus became jealous of the princess Psyche (a Greek word for "soul"), and ordered Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with the vilest thing in the world. While Cupid was sneaking into her room to shoot Psyche with a golden arrow, he saw how beautiful she was and pricked himself with his own arrow, thereby falling deeply in love with her.

Cupid visited Psyche every night while she slept. Speaking to her so that she could not see him, he told her to never try to see him. Psyche, though, incited by her two older sisters who told her Cupid was a monster, tried to look at him and angered Cupid. When he left, she looked all over the known world for him until at last Aphrodite told her that she would help her find Cupid if she did the tasks presented to her by Venus. Psyche agreed. Psyche completed every task presented to her, each one harder than the last. Finally, Venus had one task left - Psyche had to give the ruler of the underworld a box containing something she was not to look at. Psyche's curiosity got the best of her and she looked in the box. Hidden within it was eternal sleep placed there by Venus. Cupid was no longer angered by Psyche and brought her from her sleep. Psyche then received the gift of immortality so that she could be with him. Together they had a daughter, Voluptas (Greek Hedone), "Pleasure."

Attributes

A blindfolded, armed Cupid (1452/66) by Piero della Francesca

In describing the attributes of Cupid, Isidore of Seville (d. 636 AD)[4] summarizes the common interpretation of antiquity: Cupid is winged because lovers are flighty and likely to change their minds, and boyish because love is foolish and irrational. His symbols are the arrow and torch, "because love wounds and inflames the heart." Cupid is often depicted blindfolded and described as blind, not so much in the sense of sightless—since the sight of the beloved can be a spur to love—as blinkered and arbitrary. As described by Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream:[5]

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,

And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
Nor hath love's mind of any judgement taste;
Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste.
And therefore is love said to be a child

Because in choice he is so oft beguiled.[6]

Portrayal

In painting and sculpture, Cupid is often portrayed as a nude (or sometimes diapered) winged boy or baby (a putto) armed with a bow and a quiver of arrows.

Caravaggio's Amor Vincit Omnia

On gems and other surviving pieces, Cupid is usually shown amusing himself with adult play, sometimes driving a hoop, throwing darts, catching a butterfly, or flirting with a nymph. He is often depicted with his mother (in graphic arts, this is nearly always Venus), playing a horn. In other images, his mother is depicted scolding or even spanking him due to his mischievous nature. He is also shown wearing a helmet and carrying a buckler, perhaps in reference to Virgil's Omnia vincit amor or as political satire on wars for love or love as war.

Cupid figures prominently in ariel poetry, lyrics and elegiac love and metamorphic poetry. In epic poetry, he is less often invoked, but he does appear in Virgil's Aeneid changed into the shape of Ascanius inspiring Dido's love. In later literature, Cupid is frequently invoked as fickle, playful, and perverse. He is often depicted as carrying two sets of arrows: one set gold-headed, which inspire love; and the other lead-headed, which inspire hatred.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Seneca, Octavia 560.
  2. ^ The Classical Tradition (Harvard University Press, 2010), p. 244.
  3. ^ "Cupid," The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome (Oxford University Press, 2010)p. 338.
  4. ^ Isidore, Etymologies 8.11.80.
  5. ^ Geoffrey Miles, Classical Mythology in English Literature: A Critical Anthology (Routledge, 1999), p. 24.
  6. ^ Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream 1.1.234–239.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cupido.

References

  • Cotterell, Arthur & Storm, Rachel (2008). The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology. Annes Publishing Ltd.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Fabio Silva Vallejo, Mitos y leyendas del mundo (Spanish), 2004 Panamericana Editorial.
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